Improvement in horse hay-rakes



dimmi gums @anni @Mira G ASWAY 0; LACKEY, 0F AKRON, OHIO,`

Letters Patent No. 107,183, dated September 6, 1870.`

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE HAY-RAKES.

The Schedule referred to in -these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern Figure 2 is a side view ot' the same with one wheel cut olf.

Figure 3 is aA detail view of the rake-head, slotted arm, and mechanism for holding the teeth.

Figure 4 is a side view of bent lever.

Figure 5 is a rear view of the rake-head, showing the springs and tension-rods for the teeth.

Figures 6 are perspective views of the tension-1 spring, showing mode of attaching the tension-rod.

My invention relates to the arrangement ot' a U- shaped tension-spring for sholding' down the rake-teeth in the rear of and parallel with the rake-head, and 'underneath a grooved har secured to the rear of the rake-head, whereby the saidspring is brought into a position in which it is out of the way and not liable to be broken, and avery cheap and eicient mode of securing said springs to the rake-head is obtained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

ln the rake represented in the accompanying drawing, the rake-axle C serves as the head-rake, and` is arranged to turn in the hubs of the wheels B B, on which it is supported.

The rake-thills, vconsisting of' the shafts (t a, united ,by the vcross-bars' b b, are attached by the hinged couplingsZZ to the rake-axle C, and have the driveis seat S seeuredon them by the standards T T, as shown.

.lhe rake-teethJJ are made of steel or iron wire, curved into the form shown, and their upper ends are heut at right angles to the plane .of the tooth, so as to form a pivot arm, m, which arm t's in staples L L iu the rake-head U, as shown inl h'g. 1.

Ihe har I is secured to the rear face of the. rakehead 0, and the groove wis formed ou its lower edge, next to the rake-head,as shown in fig. 3.

Ihis groove w can be ot' considerable depth, it' desired, so as to allow the bar I to come down over the 'spring M, and c'over them up ou the rear, by which the hay will be prevented from clogging up-the springs in case oi raking a very heavy windrow, and said groove can be ormed either by planing it into the bar or by making the bar-ot' two pieces ot' dili'erent widths, as may he found most desirable.

The tension-rods K K are arranged in holes in the bar I, and have the-hooksn formed on their upper ends, which hooks rest over the rake-teeth J, as shown in figs. 3 and 5.

The spring M is of a U-form, and of a width not greater than that of Ithe groove w in the bar I, and

on the inner sides ot its arms are cut the notches N N, while a single notch, O, is cut on the outer side ot' its lower arm, as shown in'right-hand figure ing. 6.

The hooks p are formed at the lower ends of the tension-rods K, at right -angles to the plane of the hooks n, at the upper ends ot' said rods, so that, when the hooks n arehooked over the teeth J, as shown inA iig. 5, theplane ofthe hooks p will be at right angles with the rake-head C, i'om which it is evident that the springs M may then be `put in position by first putting the upper arm `in the groove w, so that the notch N will litover the rod K, and then springing the arms of the spring together, and pushing in thelowerarm until the lower notchesN and O are brought over the hook p, thus bringing the spring into the po-' sition shown in tig. 5, and locking the springs under the bar I and onto the tension-rod K, as indicated by left-hand figure in fig. 6.

.-Y'Ihe clearer Qconsists ot' a straight bar of wood, which rests on the teeth J J, and is provided with prongs R It, which extend down between the teeth J.

The rods P I extend from theA clearer Q to the seat-pieces Y Y, to which theyare hinged by staples, as shown in figs. l and 2.

The rake-arm E is secured tothe rake-head CA by the staple G, or in any other suitable manner, and in Yit is formed the slot F, the upper part t of which is made at a sharp upward angle with the lower part of the slot, as shown in tig. 3.

lThe bent lever D is pivoted at V to the post U` on the cross-bar b of the thills, and at its lower end is the bolt X, which slidesin the slot F in the rakearm E..

The form of the rake-arm E, the length of the arm V X of the bent lever D, and the position ofthe post U with respect to the rake-arm E, are so adjusted as that, when the bolt X is in the upper part tot' the slot F, the teeth J J shall be on the ground in the proper position forraking, as shown in lig. 2.

The several parts being in the position just shown, it is evident that the rake will be looked down to its work, for the. weight of the long arm of the bent lever l) will keep the bolt X slid up to the upper part t ot the slot F, and, as this part ofthe slot'makes a sharp angle with the lower part, and is consequently nearly at right angles with the line of movementot' the bolt X down the slot-F in raising thel rake, the strain due to the resistance of the hay to the forward movement of' the teeth'in raking will only causethe bolt 'X to ress up t the top of the part t of the slot F, and the ako will he thus held down.

I\` ow, if the driver wishes to raise the rake, he grasps he end of the bent lever D, and draws it .toward him, vhich forces down the other arm of the lever, and :anses l:he bolt X to slide down the slot F, thus forcng down themarui E, which causes a rotation of the 'alie-head Cl" and raises the rake-teeth J from the ground.

By continuing this backward movement; of the le- .'er D until the parts are brought into the position inlicated by dotted lines in tig. 2, the boltX will be slid nto the part t of the slot F, when it is evident that ;he rake will be locked in its raised position, in aman- .ier similar to that described in the locked position for faking.

When it is desirable to remove a tooth, the oper ator raises the tension-rod K until the hook N is clear ofthe tooth, when it is evident that the tooth may he drawn sidewise until the pivot-arm m is removed from the staples L, which frees the tooth from the rakehead.

lhe mode of removing a spring, M, is too evident from the foregoing description to require particular mention.

lt is evident that this construction of rake-teeth, and tension-rod, and spring, and also of the slotted arm and bent lever, are equally applicable to rakes having a rake-head separate from the rake-axle, and in which the thills, are fixed, instead of being hinged to the rake-axle. v

Having thus f ully described my improved rake,

That I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure' by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the bar l, provided with the groove w along itslower front edge, rake-head C, U- shaped tension-spring M, arranged in the rear of and parallel to the rake-head, tension-rod K,.and pivoted metallic tooth J, the several parts being arranged as and for ,the purpose specified.

2. The combination of thc rake-tooth J, with the pivot-arm an, tension-rod K, provided with the hooked ends n p, and the tension-spring M, pro- .vided with the notches N N O, and resting in the groovew of the bar I, the several parts being coustruoted and arranged as and for the purpose specified.

As evidence that Iolaiin the foregoing, 1 have hereunto set'rny hand in the presence of two witnesses,

this 15th day of January, 1870.

G. O. LAGKEY.

Witnesses: g

- G. T. FORD,

E. P. GREENE.

provided 

